Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-29
LET No ONE TREsSSPASS.
. Nv Friends will not disturb this :
place. My Enemies shall not
: S.pi. -. 1865. LEN CLINTON. :

paw 'hs sAAoAi A'h-
s..pi. =. 1865 LEN CLINTON.
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"Len Clinton" continued old man
plunket. '-stood six feet two inches in his
stocking feet. and WAS just - wears Old,
and not er poSnd of surplus flesh erbout
Elm He WIS the best shot III north Ala
hama, and warn't afrered to hack up what
he thought was right. Thar WAS lots er
diSacreements during of the war. and
more especially here in these noun
tains. Len didn't have nothing 10 do
with politics nor war for er long time. for
he warlt't man to talk much, but it got
Sc artCr awhile that il warn I safe for no
body Ia travel Ground ermonC these noun
tains. Tor one side or the other vas NOR ID
apt 10 put er bullet into you when You
warn't thinking erbout il. One day
erlong in the latter part Of '63 Len was
over to old man Burrows still, and while
he WAS thar erbout fourteen er fifteen Of
the bushwhacking gang come up Thai
warnt none of these bushwnckers that
hankered after any trouble with Len, SO
they got Ground and talked and drank,
and crank and talked till erlnng up in the
day erlong come old man Edwards hoy
gojng To mill with a turn of wheat. Old
E.waris was a terrible jeff Davis man,
end the bushwhackers warut ergwine to
le' him get any milling done if they could
help it They stopped the boy. and all Of
'em got out in the road erroUnd him. and
they had the little fellow scared TO death.
and he commenced To beg 'em, but they
had their heads set on devilment and they
war bound 10 have trouble. One of 'em
cut the bag open and let the wheat run
ont ON the ground, and one Of 'em stuck
his knife in the Old mare just Ia see her
JUNO. and some of 'em said lets give the
boy good whipping and send him back
Ia his old rebel dad, and it WAS no sooner
sad than right 10 cutting switches they
went and the 10y was crying and begging
Rad Len he'd sot thar on an old bench and
hadn't said nothing yet. but all Of sud
den he grabbed his old gun and spraEg
behind er tree and then he lowed:
The first man that lays er switch on
that boy. I'll Git him.
The hushwhackers got furious then
and grabbed thar guns and the captain Of
the gang come down erCross the boy with
a switch. and as he did The cracks Of Lens
gun was heerd and it settled that capIa.n
Lens gun cracked ergin and another of
the bushw hackers fell, and then they all
two pistols with him and he was just as
good with er pistol as he was with cr gun.
From that time on Len Clinton was looked
on as er JEFF Davis man. and he had 10
keep his eye skunt according.
In less than no time il was well known
that Len Clinton was great JEFF Davis
man. and he pretty soon was made captain
of his side. and thar war thirty or forty
fellows that didn't want no better fun
than 10 follow Len To recover stolen prop
erty or 10 ayenge the wrongs committed
by the bushwhackers of the other side.
Len was Just beginning to git things
Strengthened out in his settlement SO as a
fellow could sorter live, when in pops one
er these here conscript officers and tells
him he must go to the war.
I've got crnough war right here in
these mountains said Len.
But the couscript officer he raised er
row and tried 10 make him go and he
couldn't, and he had TO leave there faster
than he come. and he done mighty well TO
get erway nj all.
1T waru't long after this till one night
Len he heered horses feet. and he knowed
thar was trouble. He lii outen bed and
got fixed for er fight, and he bloWcd his
horn TO call up help. and he knowcd he'd
have help il er few minutes, and the
fellows what was erround his house
knowed il, too so they let III to do what
they did do in mighty quick order. II
was the conscI pt officer that was there
erlong with er lot of cavelry that he'd
been over To W-dowee and got, and they
war gwine to take Len dead or erliye.
They didn't take him though. but they
beat down that front door yonder and
fired right into the house, and the balls
killed two sweet little girls Of Lens. and
by this time Lens crowd was in hearing
and their horses hoofs could be heerd. SO
the cavalry and the conscript officer fairly
few away from here and outen these
mountains. LENS two little girls were
killed and they are buried right down
yoIder by that tree, and there is er block
eut outen the tree and a piece OF plank is
tit into il that has the narilcS of all that
cavalry crowd, on il. and Len he knelt
down by his little girls that night when
they We're killed, and he raised his hand
20 heaven and Swure that he would Kill
every man that was in the crowd, or he d
lose his own life in the attempt
Thar are eighteen names on that piece
of plank down yonder by them graves,
anu every aiit tl VII it'S t's - 'EE'''N~
but one. which is CT sign that they have
been killed They have all been Killed
but one, and he was the captain and the
very main one that Len wanted 10 Kill,
for be heerd him give the order lire. "
''I.en had only one child left; she was
er baby. Just twelve months old, and II
got so arter erwhile that he couldn't sta!
at home and his wife couldn't stay, SO she
took the little babe and started 10 90 orei
into Georgia somewhere to some Of hei
kin. She took the train at West POM
and went up To Atlanta, and thar she tool
the train to 20 To Barnesyllle. IL was q
long train loaded with soldiers. and she
WAS the only woman on the whole tran
and that little babe was the only babe Oh
the train. She was sitting right on ei
seat by the stove that they keep on trains
though thar warn't no fire, because II wa
summer, and the little babe was sitting
right down on the floor playing, ant
everything was running erlong smoothly
when all Of ct sudden thar was er trail
come meeting us and everything was tor
all TO pieces. Everybody in that box wa
badly hurt or killed, and Lens wife wa;
killed, and she had nothing erbout her Il
tell who she was or whar she was from